Food delivery services offer more options for students

In recent years, third-party food delivery services have risen steadily in popularity. This is due partially to convenience, and partly to the “why leave the house when I can stay home” mentality that many busy, lazy, or hungry people have.

A Twitter poll conducted by the Chimes revealed that 44 percent of surveyed students preferred UberEATS to other choices – 33 percent Postmates, 21 percent other, and 2 percent Grubhub.

UberEATS is an expansion of Uber, the popular ride-sharing service that allows people to get and give rides to others who also have the app. It is downloadable for iOS and Android devices, and UberEATS can be easily synced to an existing Uber account.

Currently, there are over 40 restaurants that deliver to Bexley through UberEATS, according to their website. Some of these include Buca di Beppo, ZenCha, and Mikey’s Late Night Slice. A booking fee is applied to each order in addition to the total cost of the meal to ensure reliability. While this fee varies, it is common in the area to be about $5.

Similarly, Postmates is a service that delivers food from restaurants in a surrounding area. It was founded by three men in 2011, and while it is still fairly new, it is equally as popular.

Postmates has over 80 places that allow delivery to Bexley, which is double the amount offered by UberEATS. Three of these places are not restaurants, but a general store, clothing store, and an AutoZone. The delivery fee is different, though, as it is more varied. Some places deliver for $3.99 while others charge almost $8.

Like UberEATS, Postmates is also compatible with iOS and Android devices.

While services like these are no doubt convenient, there are also more old-fashioned ways to get things delivered, like through the individual restaurant itself. Typically, this service is only seen in pizza or Chinese food restaurants, hence the popularity of organizations that are able to offer more variety.

There are about 15 pizza places in the area, most of which deliver, but they are also available through these food sharing programs.

In the aforementioned poll, 21 percent of people responded that they preferred “other” as an option to the three listed. These include but are not limited to SkipTheDishes, BiteSquad, BringMeThat, and OrderUp, in addition to more traditional delivery options.